There are a few different Halloween aesthetics that come with the holiday. You have your pumpkin latte sipping autumn girls, your vintage Halloween lovers who will never miss a hayride, and you have your spooky loving haunted house goers. While there’s no one way to celebrate Halloween, I personally am a lover of all things scary and creepy. Which makes me somewhere in between the ghost hunting in a cemetery type and watching scary movies alone in the dark type of Halloween person. This also means I am a lover of Halloween music that sounds haunting or sinister. There’s nothing like walking through dense trees with falling, colored leaves while listening to a song that makes your skin crawl. So check out these songs and artists to feel like you’re in an eerie horror movie.

“Black No. 1 (Little Miss Scare-All)” by Type O Negative: This hard rock song came out in 1993 but it still rocks just as hard today. I love the mix of melodic background vocals with singer Peter Steele’s deep, dark voice leading the chorus. The way Steele articulates his words sends a shiver through my body. Not to mention that the lyrics depict many creepy scenes before the listener. For instance, one of the lyrics cites references to famous horror pop-culture icons, “She’s got a date at midnight//With Nosferatu//Oh baby, Lily Munster//Ain’t got nothing on you.” The lyrics mixed with different atmospheric samples makes this track feel supernatural. 

“Year Zero” by Ghost: It’s expected to add a metal song when making a spooky playlist. After all, there’s a reason some people equate metal music with the devil. This can be pointed out in this track due to the band Ghost’s “satanic” aesthetic. The band even refers to all their shows as “rituals” and it’s all a part of Ghost’s lore. “Year Zero” takes this to a new level since the song starts off with chanting that repeats different names for the devil such as Beelzebub and Lucifer. The lyrics follow religious tales but add dark twists throughout. If you’re looking for something ominous and enchanting, this is the song for you. 

“Little Dark Age” by MGMT: This song is a great listen for all of the alternative fans out there. MGMT does fantastic using electronic beats, similar to 80’s synthwave, which relates heavily to futuristic aesthetics. “Little Dark Age” is a dark academia dreamland filled with low basses humming throughout and echoing vocals. This song physically impacts me every time I listen to it. It feels like I’m flying through a dark forest, watching evil spirits play around, it’s ethereal. It’s hard to compare this track to other pieces of media because it is so original. 

“Bunny Suit” by Sematary and Ghost Mountain:  I had to add a rap song to this playlist because I never realized till this year that horrorcore is an actual rap style. While “Bunny Suit” doesn’t dabble in horrorcore as much as cloud rap, an airy, ethereal type of rap with many samples, it’s still a solid Halloween track. Plus the song is all about lurking around the woods in a bunny suit, as shown in the music video which is reminiscent of a bad home VHS tape. No matter how silly the video or song might be though, it goes so hard. There’s no way someone can listen to this track and not bob their head along. It’s so catchy despite the practically groaning vocals and chaotically layered tracks. This track is special, to say the least, but it’s one that everyone needs to experience at least once. 

“Hayloft II” by Mother Mother: Mother Mother got some of their popularity from TikTok when their song “Hayloft” went viral for its storyline lyrics of a girl trying to protect her lover from her father and his gun. The band then went on to write a sequel to the song called “Hayloft II” that uses more metal and hard rock influences than the original. The song features loud, pounding bass lines, eerie vocals that layer over each other, and even a minor scale guitar riff that feels so wrong but so right. I can’t explain the experience of listening to this song because it’s like you’re watching a movie. The song has so many different tempo and melodic changes throughout that keep the listener on their toes. I have to say, it may even be better than the original, mostly for the scary factor. 

“Mx. Sinister” by I Don’t Know How But They Found Me: I am a sucker for any sinister stories told through the screen, books, or through music. I love exploring horror stories that would make others’ skin crawl. “Mx. Sinister” is a song that brings about those stomach-twisting feelings that a horror movie gives. The song follows the tale of a stalker, obsessed with someone that they’re destined to make them love them. Something really cool about the track is that it’s a gender neutral song. The name of the song uses the gender neutral title in accordance with Mr or Mrs and the track never specifies any gender. It’s not just a representation of gender diversity though, it’s a haunting and entertaining track that hooks listeners easily. 

“Stalker” by Badflower: Speaking of sinister songs, even though the last track has sinister in the title, “Stalker” takes the cake for one of the most blood-curdling songs I’ve ever heard. Just like the title suggests, the song is about stalking a woman in a very violent way. But the song also plays with the theme of misogyny against women. There are even inner monologues that are featured in the background of the track that feature the male lead singer and a feminist arguing back and forth in a nasty spat. The only way I can describe this track is crazy. And frankly, I love that it’s crazy because it’s so outrageous that it’s good. The staccato beat of the chorus and angry, passionate vocals make me want to go throw a punch through the wall just for fun. 

“After Dark” by Mr. Kitty: This song got popular on TikTok whenever it was mashed up with The Neighborhood’s “Sweater Weather.” “After Dark” uses mostly electronic, synthwave beats to fill the instrumental aspect of the song followed by 80’s snare drum beats. If you give this one a listen, I recommend closing your eyes or doing a supermodel walk to the beat as you walk through the city at night. It perfectly captures the look of the purple tunnel to the Otherworld in the animated movie, Coraline. That’s the best way I can explain this one, it’s just one that I couldn’t leave off the list. 

While not everyone enjoys sinister or haunting Halloween music, it’s an interesting genre to try out and explore. It’s amazing how a song can capture the feeling of a horror movie and I have so much respect for artists who are able to provoke those feelings and create that sound. Halloween is the time of year to dress up as something you can’t be any other time, so why not try listening to a song you’ve never heard before? You might even give yourself a true Halloween fright with this playlist.